Kitimat is getting the Coy Cup Tournament in 2013. At the regular meeting of Kitimat City Council, Wendy Kraft and Cliff Madsen got up to present to Council about this opportunity.

“We were successful in once again, our bid to host the Coy Cup for 2013. The circumstances around that are a little bit odd, we did host last year and it’s somewhat not normal to do it two years in a row but we’re very happy to say that we are doing it for our second year in a row and it’s something really good for our community,” said Madsen.

He had already sent Council a letter outlining their finances and asking for a grant for $3,500. The championships will be from March 12th through to the 16th. The top four teams from the Central Interior Hockey League. There will be five days of evenings of games.

Madsen explained none of the other teams in the league would have been able to make a successful bid because of the expenses. The BC Armature asks the host to donate money to the participating teams. However, this requires the teams to generate the amount of money needed for this. Kitimat is one of the only communities which can do this under the current format. When no teams came forward, Kitimat’s Ice Demon’s decided to host.

“Kitimat feels strongly that the Coy Cup is that important to Senior Hockey in British Columbia. For it not to happen, we would risk losing the league down the road. We brainstormed and what we came up with was we had a proposal passed around all of the member teams so the nine teams in the league have agreed to forgo the mileage that we are required to pay them,” said Madsen.

He did not wish to return to the corporations for sponsorship of another tournament so soon. He proposed teams pay their own mileage and if they get enough money from corporate sponsors, they will cover it. They have also proposed this be the case for the future and this would mean other teams would be able to cover it.

Every team is scheduled to play from Tuesday to Thursday. However, who stays in the tournament past this is dependent on who is winning. Madsen hopes the Ice Demons will win the tournament. He hopes they will do ok without the sponsorship dollars.

He expressed they have been able to support a number of other groups in the community of Kitimat. They help the Humane Society, the Haisla Youth Group, the Child Development Centre and many more. He presented Council with a series of letters to Council from these organizations. The games provided 25% of the budget for Dry Grad.

Councillor Phil Germuth asked if there were any changes to the accommodations. Madsen replied they would be able to house the officials, but there will be no room at the inn for the teams.

“Most of the hotels in town are on long term agreements with some of the companies and that hasn’t changed a whole lot in the last year. We have done some homework in terms of what is available and for the teams if they wish to stay here. If not, Terrace is going to have to be where they go,” said Madsen.